Tom Jarriel, a legendary ABC News anchor and reporter who rose to prominence for his coverage of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and the turbulent Richard Nixon administration, has died at the age of 89.
His family announced his passing on Thursday, according to ABC News.
Jarriel was born in Georgia and grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana.
His storied journalism career, which spanned nearly four decades, began in 1958 when he joined KPRC in Houston, Texas.
Just seven years later, he joined ABC News, and quickly gained the nation’s attention as he covered Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination three years later.
Tom Jarriel, a longtime ABC News anchor and reporter, has died at the age of 89
By 1969, Jarriel was promoted to Chief White House Correspondent at the network, covering the Nixon and Ford administrations.
One decade later, Jarriel became ABC’s Weekend Report anchor and joined the network’s new primetime news show 20/20, on which he reported on criminal justice and spoke directly to national leaders.
Among his many reports was a much-praised piece on female members of the armed forces who claimed they were raped and sexually abused while serving their country.
He also did a series of reports on the plight of orphans in Romania, which he would later call ‘the great, defining story of my career.’
Jarriel (pictured second from left) made a name for himself on the network’s fledgling news program 20/20
Over his more than two decades on the program, Jarriel (left) spoke to numerous public officials. He is pictured in 1973 interviewing Ted Kennedy and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald for a news special about former President John F. Kennedy’s legacy
Over his more than two decades on 20/20, Jarriel’s reporting earned him numerous awards and accolades, includes six Emmy awards.
Jarriel ultimately retired in 2002.
He now leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Joan, and three sons.
‘We honor the depth and breadth of Jarriel’s 38 years at ABC,’ the ABC News reported. ‘We celebrate his sense of fairness, of integrity, but most of all, his humanity.
‘On and off the air, Jarriel embodied the best of everyone at ABC News.’
Journalists paid their respects to the longtime reporter Thursday night, praising him as a ‘fearless’ and ‘skilled, calm and steady presence’
Other journalists also paid their respects to the longtime reporter.
Geraldo Rivera said he was ‘sad to hear’ about Jarriel’s passing.
‘He was an excellent, award winning reporter and gracious colleague on 20/20, a true gentleman,’ Rivera posted on X.
David Guilbault, a former producer for ABC News, CNN and MSNBC.com, also said he had ‘the great privilege of having worked with Tom Jarriel at ABC News.
‘For a time I was the Senior Producer of the weekend newscasts when Tom was an anchor,’ Guilbault recounted.
‘Tom was the consummate broadcast journalist. And he was always a skilled, calm and steady presence.’
Investigative journalist Joseph Trento added that Jarriel was ‘fearless.’
‘It was an honor to know him,’ he wrote.
